The Supreme Court annuls the termination of the authorization for driving school instructors

The Third Chamber (Fifth Section) of the Supreme Court has partially upheld the contentious-administrative appeal filed by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) against Royal Decree 1010/2023, of December 5, which modified the regulation of private driving schools. The judgment, issued on July 20, 2026, is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) number 224, of September 10, 2026, in section I, page 120893, with the official reference BOE-A-2026-18908.

The ruling declares article 1.21 of the aforementioned royal decree null and void, in the wording given to article 48 ter of the Regulatory Regulation of Private Driving Schools (REPC). Specifically, it annuls the paragraph stating that “the validity of the authorization shall expire upon the completion of training at the vocational training center…”. The Chamber makes no specific imposition of the costs of the appeal.

The challenged regulatory framework

Royal Decree 1010/2023, of December 5, published in the BOE on December 6, 2023, modified the Regulatory Regulation of Private Driving Schools, approved by Royal Decree 1295/2003, of October 17, and the General Drivers’ Regulation, approved by Royal Decree 818/2009, of May 8.

The reform sought to adapt the regulations to Royal Decree 174/2021, of March 23, which established the title of Higher Technician in Training for Safe and Sustainable Mobility. Among its innovations, it introduced articles 48 bis and 48 ter of the REPC, which regulate the figure of the specialist teaching staff and their practice authorization to teach the modules of Driving Techniques and Didactics of Practical Driving Instruction.

The scope of the annulment

Article 48 ter of the REPC established the procedure for obtaining the practice authorization for specialist teaching staff, which is requested through the electronic offices of the administrations with competence in traffic matters. Paragraph 4 of said article conditioned the validity of the authorization to its expiration upon the completion of training at the vocational training center, a point which the Supreme Court has declared null.

The judgment, which is final and not subject to appeal, was signed by magistrates Carlos Lesmes Serrano (president), Wenceslao Francisco Olea Godoy, José Luis Quesada Varea, María Consuelo Uris Lloret, María Concepción García Vicario, and Francisco Javier Pueyo Calleja.

Relevance for the sector

The annulment removes the automatic link between the validity of the specialist teaching authorization and the duration of the training at the vocational training center, a point that the CNMC considered contrary to free competition. The decision directly affects driving schools and centers that provide the Higher Technician cycle in Training for Safe and Sustainable Mobility, by clearing up the uncertainty regarding the continuity of their teaching staff’s authorizations.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 224, September 10, 2026, Sec. I, page 120893 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-18908).